On Dreams and Strength
by The Blind Sage
Summary: A Child, alone in the desert sands, the twin suns beating down on him mercilessly. Vash, now maried with Meryl, finds the boy passed out in the sands, near death. Vash and Meryl take him in and raise him as their son, What happens next? just read it :P
1. Out of the Blue

On Dreams and Strength  
The first fic by the Blind Sage.  
  
The story so far: This story takes place about 10 years after the events of the Trigun series; Vash (now going under the name Eriks, which will be what he is referred to in this fic) is married with Meryl. They have had no children, though, for fear of the child being half Plant. The years have passed and Vash The Stampede is thought to be dead as is Millions Knives. Eriks and Meryl have settled down to a fairly uneventful life and Eriks has hung up the red coat and put down the gun for good. It is a Sunday afternoon and both suns are burning bright as the story begins.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of Trigun, if I did, why would I be hanging out with you guys writing fanfics? :-)  
  
**************************************************************************** ****************  
  
On Dreams and Strength  
  
Chapter one: Out of the Blue  
  
Lying in the sand, a child, around the age of six, with short silver hair and deep gray-blue eyes wakes up. "Where am I? Who am I? And why is it so hot here?" A thousand questions swam in the young child's mind as he came to. He realized he was alone in this vast desert with its twin sun mercilessly barring down on him. He sat up, checking his surroundings for a sign of human life. He found nothing but sand. But as he looked closer, out on the horizon, he could make out a town, a very small town, but a town nonetheless. He wandered in the direction of the beacon of hope that was that little town.  
  
As he scanned the area of his little nameless town, Eriks noticed a faint glimmer out in the desert. As he reached for his binoculars to see what it was, he became worried.  
  
"Maybe it's Knives, maybe he's not dead. NO! I saw him die, I did all I could to save him but I watched as he died in my arms. It can't be him."  
  
What he saw surprised him more, it was a child! Barely moving, but he could tell the kid was still alive. He had to move fast, or the boy would die out there! Eriks jumped in his car and sped out to rescue the kid. As he pulled close to him in the car, he could make out his features more clearly, shaggy brown hair, somewhat tan skin, and casual clothing not at all suited to desert travel, of course, nothing was really that suited to walking through the desert. He got out of the car and raced towards the barely living child. He lifted the young boy up into the car and sped home.  
  
"You say he was all alone in the desert?" asked Meryl.  
"Yes, there was no sign of his parents or an accident, just him." Was  
Eriks' reply.  
"So, do you think he was abandoned?" "I'm not quite sure, we should probably take him in for now, Meryl." "A child?! Us, take care of a child? We can hardly take care of ourselves with the money I make, let alone a child!" "But Meryl, he probably has no family, and even if he did, we couldn't find them" ". *sigh* I guess you're right, Eriks. We should take him in." **************************************************************************** **************** Sooooooo, what'd ya think of the first chapter? I think it turned out great for my first Trigun fic! ^_^ Please review, I need feedback! Oh, and any help at all would be greatly appreciated! Pls send a PM my way if you want to help out! Love and Peace!,  
The Blind Sage ^_^ 


	2. Only in Dreams

A Tale of Dreams and Strength Chapter Two: Only in Dreams  
  
"Zeke, honey, wake up, wake up Zeke."  
A Young boy woke up to the sight of a woman with light blonde hair and shining blue eyes smiling at him.  
"Good, Zeke you're up!" The boy didn't know this woman, but somehow, she seemed familiar. The woman then picked the child (he supposed his name was Zeke, seeing as that was what the woman kept calling him) out of his bed and set him down on the floor.  
"We have a big day today, Zeke, we are going to visit you're cousin, Derik in the little town he lives in."  
"What's the name of the town?" the boy named Zeke asked  
"Well, it doesn't really have a name, its just a little town."  
"Okay, lets go!" Even though Zeke didn't know the woman, he felt happy and warm when she was near. But as he neared the door out of his room, holding the woman's hand, she disappeared. He was left in a void of blackness. He was all alone now, he felt cold and alone. Then he heard a voice. No. two voices. And they were. arguing? It seemed like the two voices, he could tell there names were Eriks and Meryl, were fighting over whether they should just take care of a little boy they found in the desert, or actually look for the child's family.  
"I don't think he even has a family Meryl!"  
"Of course he does you spiky-headed moron!"  
"Hey! I'm not the one who thinks we can find one little kids family on this entire planet!"  
"It can't be that hard!"  
"We should still take care of him, besides, we don't have a child of our own" And so it went. Until the voices woke up the young boy. He then realized that the woman was nothing more than a dream, he now felt cold and alone again. It got even worse when he realized that the only thing he could remember was his name, Zeke, and he wasn't even that sure that Zeke was his real name.  
  
As they were arguing, Meryl noticed that the young boy they found was sitting up, crying.  
"Look what you did now, idiot, you woke the poor kid up!"  
"What I did!? You made more noise than me, Meryl!" And so the arguing and yelling went on. and on. and on. until the little boy spoke up in a small kind of scared voice,  
"Umm. Mister Eriks, Miss Meryl, I'm hungry" Eriks and Meryl looked at each other, slightly confused, they had almost forgotten the kid was there .  
"Oh, silly me! We got caught up in our conversation and almost forgot you were there" Eriks said  
"Umm. that sounded like an argument, not a conversation." Eriks and Meryl just stood dumbfounded at the little kid's intelligence.  
"Uh. you said you were hungry, right, uh. what's your name little boy?" asked Meryl.  
"I think my name is Zeke"  
"Do you have a last name?"  
"I don't know." He said sweetly  
"Well, do you have any family?"  
"I don't know"  
"Do you have anything?"  
"I don't know"  
"Do you know anything?"  
"I don't know"  
"AARGH!! I give up!" Meryl then stormed off to make a sandwich for the annoying kid.  
"Hehe, she's fun" the boy said with a smile.  
"Yeah, she's a load of laughs" Said Eriks sarcastically  
"I HEARD THAT ERIKS!!!!!!!"  
"Eep"  
  
{Several hours, several sandwich breaks and several hundred questions later.}  
  
"Well, we know that the kid's name is Zeke and that's it." Said Meryl  
"I told you finding this kid's family would be hard." Was Eriks' reply  
"Oh, shut up."  
[Eriks smiling in victory]  
"So I guess we take him in" Said Eriks  
"I guess so."  
  
^__________________________________^ I think that was great. And don't worry, Zeke is somehow connected one of Trigun's main characters. No one asked that question, and no one has reviewed this story yet. Except me, and that was to post an update thing. You guys aren't very supportive:( . Oh well ^_^ ill get back to writing a story now. Oh, and before I go, I just want to say my cat looks just like Kureonekou =^o^=. Just sayin'. LOVE AND PEACE!,  
The Blind Sage 


	3. Outlaw

A Tale of Dreams and Strength  
  
Chapter three: Outlaw  
  
He was having the dream again. Zeke knew it by heart by now, who he assumed was his biological mother would stand over him, smiling. He would wake up and take his mother's hand. Then he would find himself standing alone, in an endless abyss of darkness. A cold empty feeling would wash over him then. But it was then that the dream always ended. Of course, sometimes it would get further, for instance, sometimes he would see little tidbits of the rest of his house. He also learned his mothers name was Melissa. But he knew it now. So well it was no longer even remotely frightening, it was actually becoming really boring.  
As he woke up, Zeke remembered something, it was his 14th birthday. "How could I forget?" he asked himself as he slipped into his clothes. Of course, it wasn't his "real" birthday; he didn't know when that was. Neither did Eriks or Meryl, his foster parents. His heart warmed at the thought of them.  
As he walked down the stairs to the kitchen still slightly drowsy, someone, no a bunch of someone's shouted "HAPPY BIRTHDAY ZEKE!" The shock almost sent him tumbling down the stairs.  
But it was only Eriks, Meryl, and Meryl's friend Milly. They were all smiling brightly at him, especially Milly "of course" he reminded himself "she's always smiling like that". They also were all holding out brightly wrapped presents  
"'Morning Zeke!" said Eriks  
"Mornin' dad"  
"Well, shall we begin the festivities?" asked Eriks Zeke brightened up immediately "Yahoo! Lets get started!"  
"He's so much like Eriks it's almost scary," Meryl whispered to Milly She just smiled even brighter.  
"So dad, we got any birthday plans"  
"Nothing special, just a little family party" All Zeke could do was just smile the giant goofy smile he had gleaned from his foster father.  
  
[Several hours later, the party's almost over] "Ok Zeke, its time to unwrap the presents!" said Meryl with an enormous smile. "Yeah! A new guitar!" Zeke loved music, but unfortunately, he left his old guitar out on the porch where it was knocked over and broken by some creepy black cat with enormous green eyes. Vash just smiled at Zeke. "Go ahead and unwrap Meryl's and Milly's" All the other presents were less spectacular, but still very good, a new set of clothes from Meryl, (she always gave him presents like clothes, she was always so practical) and a golden necklace adorned with a cross that was so plain it made it even more attractive (Zeke knew it was feminine to get jewelry of all things for a birthday, but he liked the necklace when he saw it in a nearby shop and had asked for it).  
Just as Zeke's simple birthday party was about to come to a close, there was a knock at the door, Zeke went to answer it.  
"Hello?" An extremely large man was now almost blocking the doorway.  
"We've come for Vash the Stampede" "What are you talking about, he's been dead for years!" said Zeke "Don't play dumb with me kid! I know he's here" the man now seemed even larger Back in the kitchen Eriks was overhearing their conversation. "You had to know they would find you Vash," he told him self "Its time." He said aloud "Eriks, no!" Pleaded Meryl, "please don't Eriks" "I have to Meryl, it's our son out there" "I understand," she suddenly remembered how hard it was to get that man to give in, and why she married him.  
  
Zeke thought to himself, "man when are these guys gonna call a quits!?" Eriks entered the room. "Eriks! These guys think Vash the Stampede is here, they gotta be crazy" "I'm afraid they're not, Zeke" Eriks said quietly "What!? What're you talking about" Zeke was sure this was all a big joke, a bad dream, one he would wake up from soon "Son, I am Vash the Stampede, or I was. That's over now, you can leave" he said, addressing the bounty hunter "Hehe, fat chance Vash, the bounty still stands, we're coming to collect." The man was now wearing a sickening smile. "How did you find out I lived here?" Eriks said in the same quiet voice "We got sources, now hand yourself over or I might just have to kill you" said the man angrily Eriks simply said "I'm afraid I cant do that" "Hehe, well then its time to rumble" the man began to crack his knuckles "Fine" "Dad, no!" Zeke yelled Eriks replied in a suddenly louder voice "Stay out of this Zeke! I don't want to drag you into this!" Zeke had no choice but to stay put as Eriks began to fight, he still couldn't bring himself to believe the man before him was the legendary outlaw, the Humanoid Typhoon. The Devil in a red coat. The $$60,000,000,000 man. Vash the Stampede.  
"Well, shall we get to it?" asked Eriks, finally breaking the silence  
  
"Gladly" said the man with a devilish grin So the fight began, the unknown bounty hunter swinging wildly with fists a big and probably as hard as cinderblocks, Vash skillfully dodging every swing and getting in a few good pops of his own. Finally, the bounty hunter got a hit in on Vash, and man was it a hit. Vash was sent flying across the room. As he got up he whipped away some blood from his forehead and lip. "You're good, bounty hunter, but nowhere near good enough" Vash said as he lunged at the bounty hunter. The man launched the hardest punch yet, but Vash evaded it once again. As he dodged he landed a firm punch right to the gut of the bounty hunter, toppling him over. "Ya know, I think you forgot who you where dealing with, I am the Humanoid Typhoon, Vash the Stampede! Now leave before I change my mind and decide to kill you!" The man scampered away so fast he fell over himself.  
"Well, now that that's over, I feel I have some explaining to do, Zeke"  
  
What'd ya think of this chapter? I thought it was good, but man it took forever to write! Please remember to R/R. Also I got a new tester fer my stories, so I don't need anyone to help. Thanks LibertyGurl. (She's not on fanfiction.net, so don't bother) Also, I updated the first chapter, and I used that as an excuse for changing a few things in the story, nothing major, jut changed the kid's hair color. I know the kid looks like Wolfwood, but it's not his son. Also, I just realized that Milly could be short for Melissa. but it's not them. ok? Not much else to say fer now, so  
  
Love and Peace,  
The Blind Sage 


	4. Into the Dark

On Dreams and Strength  
  
Ch. 4: Into the Dark  
  
"Zeke, wake up son," It was that dream again. but something was different this time; the person's voice was that of a man. A voice that seemed to take an eternity to finish that sentence. A voice that seemed to drift off into infinity afterwards.  
Zeke opened his eyes, a man was standing, rather, sitting next to his bed. The man was in a wheelchair, looking at him through a single world- weary golden eye, the other was covered up by his strange blue colored hair. He was wearing a plain white trench coat with a black shirt and tan slacks under it.  
In the same long, drawn out voice he said, "You've overslept, I hope you remember that you're going with me on a trip"  
"what're we going to do on the trip?" was all he could think of saying.  
"I have someone I have to see in New Kansas" he said in a very sad voice.  
It was then he was rudely interrupted by possibly his least favorite sound, his alarm clock.  
It had been several weeks after the shock that his beloved foster father was Vash the Stampede. He had gotten over the initial shock, but he was now wondering who this man in the dream was. He knew the man was his "real" father, but nothing else. He was still pondering this when he went downstairs for breakfast.  
"Hey Zeke!" Vash said through a mouthful of donuts  
"You know hate it when you don't save me any donuts!" was all Zeke could say.  
After downing his second serving of eggs and bacon, he told Vash about the dream. Vash almost chocked on his donut when he described the man in the whiter coat.  
After Meryl did a quick Heimlich maneuver, Vash shouted the name "Legato!"  
"Legato? What're you talking about?" Zeke said while Vash was gasping for air.  
"Legato Bluesummers, that's definitely who you described."  
"Who? You knew my real father?" Zeke was ecstatic, finally, a chance to meet his biological parents!  
"Yes, I knew him," Vash seemed sad, angry, and highly frustrated at the thought of this man.  
"But, I wish I had never met him" Zeke was shocked, this Legato person must have been terrible to deserve Vash's hate.  
"so," Zeke said after an awkward silence "what was so bad about him?"  
  
"He worked for Knives, he was hell-bent on fulfilling that lunatic's orders. Even if it meant destroying humanity."  
Zeke then remembered Vash's description of Knives, He wished all traces of humanity wiped out. He believed them inferior, unfit to live on this planet.Vash then broke the silence.  
"Knives must be alive. Zeke, I need you to find Legato, he will know where to find Knives." After a long pause, Zeke said, "I understand" and he began to leave. "Wait" Zeke turned around, "You'll need these" Vash said, handing Zeke a leather trench coat the color of Vash's favorite flower, the red geranium. determination and courage. and a large silver handgun.  
His eyes began to water as he put the coat on "Fits like a glove, dad" Then with a hot tear running down his cheek, he turned away. Waving goodbye, he then left.  
  
Well, that was a kinda sad chapter, but now we know who the father is. So there is a good side. And yes, I realize that this chapter was waaaaaaaaaaaaaay short, but it was two pages front and back on notebook paper. Ah well. its not the size, it's what you do with it :-) And now, because I feel like it, an explanation on the title of this story, "On Dreams and Strength" okay, the dream part comes from the dreams like the one at the beginning of this chapter, Zeke'll be having a couple more of them. Now, the strength part comes from Zeke's name, Zeke is short for Ezekiel, which, translated from Hebrew, means: God Gives Strength. And there is a reason Legato named him that. But I wont tell you. Nya Nya Nya! Aight, until next time,  
Love and Peace,  
The Blind Sage 


End file.
